


identity was a liquid state, ever interchangeable (a snake didn’t mourn when it had to shed its skin)

by kayteedancer



Series: November Challenge [26]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Darcy Lewis centric, Gen, Identity Issues, Identity Reveal, Mutant Darcy Lewis, Running from problems, the cure didn’t work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 12:54:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12841602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayteedancer/pseuds/kayteedancer
Summary: Suddenly, she felt a presence next to her and Darcy sighed again, hands clenching into fists in her pockets as she turned to face her visitor.Red hair shone in the diffused light from the apartment above and cat-like green eyes roamed over Darcy’s face.“Nat,” Darcy murmured, blinking blue eyes smeared in dark makeup at the woman. Natasha stayed silent, waiting, and Darcy smiled ruefully.“You found me.”





	identity was a liquid state, ever interchangeable (a snake didn’t mourn when it had to shed its skin)

**Author's Note:**

> Back on time, woot!!!! Here’s Day 26 everybody! The prompt for today was: _“I miss the girl you were.” “Many will. She was easier to kill.”_.
> 
> Kind of a dark prompt, and kind of a dark installment, I’ve got to say. But I managed to keep the prompt mostly intact and just shifted a few tenses around and such to make it work for the story. 
> 
> As for the story itself, I will always mourn the fact that the Avengers and the X-Men will never be in movies together. So have some Darcy as a Mutant, on me!
> 
> Thank you all so much for dealing with my weird, awful schedule these past few days. I’m back on track now and can’t say thank you enough to all of you that have read, left kudos, and commented on this challenge!! You keep me going strong as this month creeps to a close. <3 <3
> 
> Come say hi over on my tumblr (sleepeatdancedream)! I would love to talk about pretty much anything with you all and to snag some prompts :D
> 
> Finally, please enjoy this installment in the challenge! I’d love to hear what you think about it!
> 
> Title is a quote by Leonardo Donofrio.

Darcy heaved a sigh, her arms threaded through the railing as she relaxed on a building’s fire escape. New York had some of the best fire escapes, with platforms and sturdy stairs, and Darcy couldn’t be more thankful for them when she used them so frequently to escape the people looking for her. And if she sat on one and stared up long enough, she could pretend that she could see stars past the light pollution and get lost in her thoughts.

Yeah. Fire escapes. She’s a huge fan.

She tugged her beanie down further over her ears, breath escaping her in white puffs as she groped at her face to push up glasses that were no longer there. She didn’t need them anymore. Darcy shoved her gloved hands into the pockets of her oversized tattered winter coat.

Suddenly, she felt a presence next to her and Darcy sighed again, hands clenching into fists in her pockets as she turned to face her visitor.

Red hair shone in the diffused light from the apartment above and cat-like green eyes roamed over Darcy’s face.

“Nat,” Darcy murmured, blinking blue eyes smeared in dark makeup at the woman. Natasha stayed silent, waiting, and Darcy smiled ruefully.

“You found me,” Darcy announced dully, and Natasha titled her head to the side.

“You didn’t go far,” Natasha demurred, copying Darcy’s posture and threading her arms through the fire escape as well. “Though changing your hair was a nice touch.”

Darcy flinched slightly, a gloved hand coming up to tug at her choppy purple hair, bangs a livid white against her pale skin. “I had to go, Nat,” she nearly whispered, bringing her knees up to her chest as she spun around, her back flush to the railing. “After what I did to Jane, to Clint, to Steve, to you and Thor and Sam and _everyone_...” Darcy trailed off.

“That was not your fault,” Natasha stated matter-of-factly. “How were you to know?”

Darcy snorted derisively, burying her head in her knees. “That’s just it, I _shoulda_ known,” she drawled, her long buried Southern accent coming to the fore in her upset. “Nothing gold can stay, an’ all that.”

It was Natasha’s turn to snort as she faced Darcy. “The cure had worked for how many years? Years where you had no problem touching anyone, where you didn’t have to fear?”

Darcy let out a sob as she curled tighter into herself. _Of course_ Natasha knew; _of course_ she had figured it out.

“I just wanted to be normal,” Darcy cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I just wanted to _touch_ someone and have them touch _me_ and not have to worry that I might _kill them_...”

Natasha stayed silent, letting Darcy cry herself out. Eventually, Darcy’s tears stopped and she took in a shuddering breath. Wiping her cheeks and thanking god for water-proof makeup, Darcy tilted her head back once more, staring up at the hazy sky.

“What will you do now?” Natasha finally asked, words so soft they almost blew away in the wind.

Darcy shrugged, closing her eyes. “Maybe go t’Xavier,” she drawled. “Maybe t’Raven. Maybe I’ll disappear ‘gain, become somebody new.”

“I’ll miss the girl you were,” Natasha confessed, eyes sharp on the side of Darcy’s face.

Darcy felt herself tremble with barely suppressed emotion, a sob trying to tear its way out of her throat. She felt numbness sweep through her as she pushed it down.

“Many will,” she replied, her voice flat and nearly devoid of life.

Darcy looked back to Natasha, a rictus grin darkening her features. “She was much easier to kill.”

Natasha shook her head, pulling herself up to stand on the fire escape. “She was much easier to _love_ ,” she correcred, and Darcy flinched. And just as suddenly as she had appeared, Natasha was gone leaving Darcy alone once more in the chill of the night.

A lone tear slipped down Darcy’s face as she looked back up to the sky. Darcy Lewis had to disappear. Anna Marie had been dead a long time, so too had Rogue. She needed a new name, a new place.

She needed somewhere that no one cared that she was always covered up and flinched away from touch because they didn’t know her. She was _fine_ with it. She had done it before, she could do it again.

Her heart ached at the thought of leaving behind the assorted Avengers and others that she had chosen as her family in that “cured” life. She brushed it off savagely and hardened her heart once more. A new name, a new life.

_A new her_.

Darcy slipped down the fire escape and into the shadows without a sound, turning towards the future and shedding her past like an old skin.

She had work to do.


End file.
